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England, 1689--1830. 



A Chronological Outline of Political History. 




WILLIAM W. NOLEN, 

Cambridge, Mass. 



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[WA8HlNQTQgJ 



ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. 



To the list of BOOKS FOR REFERENCE on the opposite 

page, add 

Mn. Mahon, Lord, History of England. 

P. 12, Line 35. For M., I, 40, read M., ch. 1. 

P. 13, Line 9. The date 1765 should begin the line. 

P. 21. The first paragraph should read 

1782, March 4. Motion made to the effect that the House of 
Commons would consider all those advising further offen- 
sive war in America enemies to the country. 

Line 38. For M., I, 197, 212, read M., ch. 4. 

For too read to. 

For M., I, 68, read M., ch. 1. 

For M., I, 280, read M., ch. 6. 

For M., II, 544, read M., ch. 17. 

For M., I, 317, read M., ch. 6. 

For M., II, 496, read M., ch. 16. 



P. 22, Line 17 

P. 23, Line 18 

Line 38 

P. 24, Line 2 

Line 16 

Line 25 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 



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MAflgfilfl 



England, 1689--1830. 

A Chronological Outline of Political History. 



WILLIAM W. NOLEN, 

Cambridge, Mass. 



M\ 



1 



tft 



BOOKS FOR REFERENCE. 



B. Bright, J. F., History of England, Vol. III. 

G. Gardiner, Samuel R., A Student's History of England. 

M. May, T. E., Constitutional History of England. 

R. Ransome, Cyril, An Advanced History of England. 



Ad. Adams, Davenport, English Party Leaders. 

Ann. Reg. The Annual Register. 

D. Dyer, T. H., Modern Europe. 

D. E. H. Low, S. J., Dictionary of English History. 

F. Russell, Life and Times of Charles James Fox. 

F. G. McCarthy, Justin, A History of the Four Georges. 

Gn. Gneist, Rudolf, The English Parliament. 

K. Knight, Charles, History of England. 

L. Lecky, W. E. H., History of England. 

L. A. Lewis, G. C, Essays on the Administrations of Great 

Britain. 

Mar. Martineau, H., History of the Peace, Vols. I and II. 

Mas. Massey, William, History of England. 

O'C. Hamilton, J. A., Life of Daniel O'Connell. 

P. Stanhope, Life of Pitt. 

R. Rosebery, Pitt. 

5. Skottowe, B. C, Our Hanoverian Kings. 

Skot. Skottowe, B. C, A Short History of Parliament. 

T. C. Two Centuries of Irish History. 

T. E. S. Smith, Goldwin, Three English Statesmen. 

T. R. Rogers, Thorold, Historical Gleanings. 

Tr. Trevelyan, G. O., Early Life of Charles James Fox. 

W. Walpole, Spencer, History of England. 

Y. Yonge, C. D., Constitutional History of England. 



Copyright, 1900, by 
William W. Nolen. 



3 ?womB*yj 




ENGLAND 1689-1830. 

1689-1702, William III (with flary until 1694). 

1694. Triennial Act passed. 

1700. Death of William, Duke of Gloucester, son of Anne. 

1701. Act of Settlement (Mn., I, n). 

1. Sovereign must belong to the Established Church. 

2. England shall not be obliged to engage in war for the defence of 

her sovereign's possessions not belonging to her. 

3. The sovereign is not to leave England without the consent of 

Parliament. 

4. Resolutions of the Privy Council are to be signed by those 

advising the action. 

5. Foreigners to be excluded from the Privy Council, Parliament, 

office, and grants of land from the Crown. 

6. Office-holders and pensioners are not to sit in Parliament. [Re- 

pealed 1706.] 

7. Judges to receive fixed salaries and hold office during good 

behavior. 

8. Pardon not to be pleaded as a bar to impeachment. 

The act also entailed the crown on Sophia, Electress of Hanover, 
and her descendants. 

1702. March 8. Death of William III. 

1702-1714, Anne (sister of Mary). 
1704. Queen Anne's Bounty instituted. 

Gibraltar is captured. 
1707. Act for the Union of England and Scotland. 

17 10. August. The Whig ministry is dismissed and replaced 

by a Tory administration under Harley [later Earl of 
Oxford] and St. John [later Bolingbroke]. 

17 1 1. The Property Qualification for members of the House of 
Commons is established [see 1858]. 

The South Sea Company established. 

1712. Patronage Rights restored in Scotland. 

1 7 13. Peace of Utrecht {Mn., I, 35). 

The Protestant Succession is secured in England, the Pretender is 
to quit France ; Philip of France is to remain king of Spain but 
the crowns of France and Spain are never to be united. England 
obtains from France, Newfoundland, Acadia, and the Hudson Bay 
Territory; from Spain, Gibraltar and Minorca. 



1714- Oxford is dismissed from office. At the Cabinet Council, 
Shrewsbury is raised to the office of Lord Treasurer 
(Mn., I, 95). 
August 1. Death of Anne. 

*#* For the reigns of William and Mary and Anne see 
Gan/iner, Students' History of England, pp. 649-701. 
Ransome, Advanced History of England, pp. 667-730. 

1714-1727, George I (son of Sophia of Hanover). 

1 7 14. Townshend, Stanhope, and Walpole become the heads of 

a new Whig administration. Character of Parliament 
and of George I (Mn., I, ch. 4 ; L., I, chs. 2 and 3). 

17 15. Parliament is dissolved. General Election. Whig 

majority. 

The Riot Act is revived and its scope increased (Mn., I, 
138; A'., VI, 6). 

September. Jacobite rising in Scotland under the Earl 
of Mar [Bobbing John]. The Duke of Argyle takes com- 
mand of the English in Scotland. Risings in England 
(Mn., I, chs. 5 and 6). 

November. Invasion of England — The insurgents under 
Forster defeated at Preston [W. Lancashire]. Battle 
of Sheriffmuir [S. Perth] in Scotland between Mar and 
Argyle. 

December. The Pretender [James Francis Edward] lands 
in Scotland; in February, 17 16, he returns to France 
and the rising ends. 

1716. Septennial Act (Mn., I, 209; K., VI, 24). 

This act limited the duration of Parliament to seven years. 

December. Townshend, having lost favor by opposing 
the king's Hanoverian schemes and his visit to the con- 
tinent, is removed to the Lord Lieutenancy of Ireland, 
and Stanhope becomes chief minister (Mn., I, ch. 7). 

17 1 7. Townshend and Walpole leave their offices because they 

oppose Stanhope. 

1720. The South Sea Company purchase part of the national 

debt. Great rise in the price of its shares followed by a 
panic (Mn., I, ch. n). 

1 72 1. Walpole rejoins the ministry and restores confidence. 



1721-1742- Ministry of Sir Robert Walpole. 

Its characteristics were (1) Unity of the Cabinet. 

(2) A Peace Policy. 

(3) Bribery. 

(4) Walpole's treatment of his contempo- 

raries. 
1722. Atterbury's (Jacobite) Plot. 
1727, June 10. Death of George I. 

*** For the reign of George I see 

Required Reading. Bright, History of England, III, pp. 929- 
942, 946-958. 
Gardiner, Students' History of England, 

pp. 702-718. 
Ransome, Advanced History of England, 

PP- 734-755- 
Advised References. Mahon, History of England, chapters 1 to 
14. 
Morley, Walpole (Twelve English States- 
men Series). 

1727-1760, George II (son of George I). 

1727. First Annual Indemnity Act passed. 

1728. Resolution passed against publishing the debates of the 

House of Commons. 
1 73 1. Law passed that all proceedings of courts of justice should 

be in English instead of Latin (A'., VI, 66). 
1733. Walpole proposes an excise scheme, which he abandons 

on account of the opposition aroused {Mn., II, 167). 

1736. William Pitt first prominent in Parliament. 

1737. Open quarrel of Frederick, Prince of Wales, with the king. 

Norfolk House, his residence, the centre of the Opposi- 
tion. 
November 20. Death of Queen Caroline. 
1738-1739. Agitation for a war with Spain. "The fable of 
Jenkins' ears" {Mn., II, 281 ; I., I, 416 ; K., VI, 93). 

1739, October. War with Spain proclaimed. 
1 740-1 748. War of the Austrian Succession. 

Parties : England and Austria (Maria Theresa) against France and 
Prussia (Frederick the Great). England was active after 1742. 

1740. Methodism prominent in England under Wesley and 

Whitefield {Mn., II, ch. 19 ; I., II., ch. 9). 



1742, February. Walpole, being defeated on the Chippenham 

Election Case, resigns all his offices and is created Earl 
of Orford (Z., I, 428; Mn., Ill, 108). Wilmington 
prime minister. 

Wilmington, Pulteney, Hardwicke, Sandys, and Carteret were mem- 
bers of the Cabinet, Carteret being the leading member. 

1743, June 27. The French defeated at Dettingen [Central 

Germany] (Mn., Ill, 152 ; £., I, 439 ; K., VI, no). 

This was the last battle in which a king of England fought in 
person. 

July. Death of Wilmington. Henry Pelham, minister. 
Carteret later loses power (Z., I, 445 ; Mn., Ill, 163). 

1744, November. Earl Granville (formerly Carteret) and Win- 

chelsea leave the ministry and Pelham forms the " Broad 
Bottom Administration." 

1745, May n. English defeated at Fontenoy [W. Belgium]. 
July-August. Charles Edward Stuart (The Young Pre- 
tender) la/ids in Scotland and a rising occurs (Mn., Ill, 
chs. 27 to 29). 

September. Charles enters Edinburgh and (September 
21st) defeats Cope at Prestonpans [S. E. Scotland]. 

November. Charles crosses into England but not meeting 
with support retires in December. 

1746, January 17. The English under Hawley are defeated at 

Falkirk [S. E. Scotland]. 
January 30. The Duke of Cumberland (The Butcher) 

arrives in Scotland. 
February. Pitt is made Vice-Treasurer of Ireland and a 

few months later Paymaster of the Forces. 
April 16. Defeat of Charles Edward and Lord George 

Murray (Z., I, 458) by the Duke of Cumberland at 

Culloden [N. Scotland near Moray Firth]. 
April-September. Wanderings of Charles in Scotland 

(at one time saved by Flora Macdonald) until his escape 

to France (September 20th). 
August. The Highland Garb prohibited by Parliament. — 

Disarming Act. 
August 18. Kilmarnock and Balmerino executed. 

1747, Hereditary jurisdiction of the Highland chiefs abolished. 



1748, October. Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle [W. Rhine Pro- 
vinces]. 
Silesia is to remain in Prussia's possession. Mutual restoration of 
all conquests, so Cape Breton is given back to the French. 
Hanoverian Succession confirmed. 
1 75 1, March 20. Death of Frederick, Prince of Wales. 

Chesterfield obtains the abolition of the Old Style Calendar 
(Mn., IV, 15) and the substitution of the Gregorian or 
New Style Calendar. 
The legal year is to commence in future on January 1st instead of 
March 25th, and eleven days (3rd to 13th) are omitted from the 
dates in September, 1752. 

1753, June. Hardwicke's Marriage Act passed (£., I, 531; 

Mn., IV, 25). 
No marriage valid unless performed in a parish church by a clergy- 
man of the Church of England after certain formalities, as the 
publication of banns for three successive Sundays. The Arch- 
bishop was to have the power of granting special licenses. Jewish 
and Quaker marriages were exempted from the act. 

1754, March. Death of Pelham. His brother, the Duke of 

Newcastle, becomes Prime Minister. 

Newcastle, First Lord of the Treasury; Lord Hardwicke, Chan- 
cellor; Holdernesse, Legge, Earl Granville, Earl Gower, George 
Grenville. 

May-July. Washington's expedition to the Ohio (L., II, 

483). 
Pitt is married to Lady Hester Grenville, sister of Earl 

Temple. 

1755, June 7. Boscawen and Howe attack French ships at the 

Gulf of St. Lawrence (Mn., IV, 47). 

July 9. Defeat of the English and colonial troops under 
Braddock at Fort du Quesne [Near Pittsburgh]. 

November. Henry Fox becomes Secretary of State and 
ministerial leader in the House of Commons. Pitt loses 
his office as Paymaster of the Forces, and Legge and 
George Grenville leave the ministry (Mn., IV, 59). 

1756, January. Convention of Westminster between England 

and Prussia. 
May. War declared against France (Mn., IV, 74). 
The Seven Years' War. Parties : France, Austria, Russia (Elizabeth) 

against England and Prussia. 



8 

1756. May 20-21. Byng fails to relieve St. Philip's, Minorca, 

which surrenders to the French. 
June 20. Surajah Dowlah takes Calcutta. "The Black 

Hole"(J/>/., IV, 330). 
November. Newcastle resigns, Fox having already done 

so. Devonshire=Pitt Ministry (Mn., IV, 88). 

Devonshire, First Lord of the Treasury; Legge, Chancellor of the 
Exchequer; Earl of Holdernesse and Pitt, Secretaries of State; 
Earls Granville, Gower, and Temple. 

1757. Highland regiments raised (Mn., IV, 92 ; Z., II, 75). 
March 14. Execution of Byng. 

April 9. Pitt is dismissed and the ministry breaks up. 

Newcastle tries for eleven weeks to form a ministry 

without Pitt and fails. 
June 23. Clive victorious at Plassy [Central Bengal]. 
June 29. Newcastle- Pitt Ministry (Mn., IV, in; Z., 

II, 5°3)- 
Newcastle, First Lord of the Treasury; Pitt and Holdernesse, Secre- 
taries of State; Legge, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Temple, 
Lord Privy Seal; Anson, Admiralty; Fox, Paymaster of Forces 
but not in the Cabinet. 

July. Failure of the expedition of the Earl of Loudon 
against Louisburg [Cape Breton Is.]. — The Duke of 
Cumberland is defeated at Hastenbeck [Hanover] and 
concludes (September 8th) the Convention of Closter- 
Seven (Mn., IV, 121). 

November 5. Frederick defeats the French at Rosbach 
[W. Saxony]. 

December 5. Frederick defeats the Austrians at Leuthen 
[S. E. Silesia]. 

Ferdinand of Brunswick assumes command of the Han- 
overian army. 

1758. A yearly subsidy of £670,000 voted to Prussia. 
April. Senegal [W. Africa] taken (Mn., IV, 137). 
June-September. Attacks on the French coast (Mn., IV, 

141). 
July. Louisburg taken by Amherst, Wolfe, and Bos- 

cawen. — Abercrombie fails to take Ticonderoga. 
November 25. Fort du Quesne taken. 
December. Goree [W. of Africa] taken by Keppel. 



1759) Mav - Guadaloupe [W. Indies] taken by the English. 
July. Bombardment of Havre by the English. 
August i. Ferdinand of Brunswick defeats the French 

under the Duke de Broglie at Minden [S. Hanover]. 

Conduct of Lord George Sackville (Mn., IV, 182). 
September. Battle and Surrender of Quebec. Death of 

Wolfe and Montcalm (Mn., IV, 171 ; Z., II, 539). 
November 20. Admiral Hawke defeats the French at 

Quiberon Bay [N. W. France]. 
1760, January. Coote wins the battle of Wandewash and secures 

Madras. Complete downfall of the French power in 

India. 
October 25. Death of George II (Mn., IV, 213 ; Z., II, 

565)- 
*** For the reign of George II see 

Required Reading. Bright, History of England, III, pp. 966- 

l °33- 
Gardiner, Students' History of England, 

pp. 718-764. 
Ranso7?ie, Advanced History of England, 
pp. 7 5 6 - 8 °3- 
Advised References. Mahon, History of England, chapters 
1 5 to 36. 
Lecky, History of England in the 
Eighteenth Century, chapters 3 to 9. 
Skottowe, Our Hanoverian Kings, Books 

II to V. 
Massey, History of England, I, chap- 
ter 1. 
Knight, History of England, VI, chap- 
ters 3 to 15. 
Trevelyan, Early Life of Charles James 
Fox, chapter 1. 
Other Works of Value. Adams, English Party Leaders, 

Book I, chapter 1. 
Gneist, The English Parliament, 

chapter 6. 
Harrop, Bolingbroke. 
Skottowe, A Short History of Par- 
liament, chapters 13 and 14. 



1760-1820, George III (grandson of George II). 

Born, 1738; married, 1 761, to Charlotte of Mecklenburg; died, 
1820. His education by his mother and Lord Bute at Leicester 
House. His private character, his idea of prerogative and views 
on parties. 

1760, November 3. Frederick defeats the Austrians under Daun 

at Torgau [Saxony]. 

1 76 1, March. Changes in the ministry. Lord Bute is made 

Secretary of State in place of Holdernesse. 
August 15. Pacte de Familie between France and Spain 

(Bourbon powers) signed (Mh., IV, 247). This breaks 

up the peace negotiations (Mas., I, 81). 
October 5. Pitt and lemple leave the ministry because of 

the opposition of the Cabinet to a war with Spain (Z., 

Ill, 38). 

1762, January. War declared against Spain. Czarina Elizabeth 

dies. 
April. Prussian subsidies discontinued (Z., Ill, 48). 
June. Newcastle resigns because he is not consulted 

about patronage or policy. — Publication of the " North 

Briton " begun. Bute [Tory] Ministry. 

Bute, First Lord of the Treasury; Dash wood, Chancellor of the 
Exchequer; Egremont and George Grenville, Secretaries of State; 
Halifax, Admiralty; Earl Granville; Duke of Bedford. 

August. Havaiia taken by the English (Mn., IV, 277). 

November 3. Preliminaries of Peace signed (Mn., IV, 
283). 

December. The Preliminaries of Peace, supported by 
Henry Fox, are approved by the House of Commons, 
319 to 65. Peers disapproving of the peace are deprived 
of their lord-lieutenancies (Mas., I, 126). 

1763, February 10. Peace of Paris between France and England. 

France cedes to England, Canada, Nova Scotia and Cape Breton. 
Florida is obtained from Spain. The Mississippi is to be the 
western boundary of the English American colonies. France loses 
military power in India and retains fishing rights off Newfoundland. 
England retains Tobago, Dominica, St. Vincent, and Grenada and 
gets back Minorca. Goree is restored to France and the English 
army withdrawn from Germany. By a private convention between 
France and Spain, France ceded Louisiana to Spain. 



1763. Placemen are dismissed for voting against the ministry in 
Parliament (Z., Ill, 62). — Jack-boot bonfires. 

April 8. Bute resigns and the Triumvirate or George 
Grenville [Tory] Ministry takes office. 

Grenville, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the 
Exchequer; Egremont and Halifax, Secretaries of State ; Earl of 
Sandwich, Admiralty; Lord Holland (Henry Fox), Paymaster. 
Ministry weak, Temple and Bedford not members. 

April 19. Royal speech commending the peace. 

April 23. Speech attacked by Wilkes in the "North 
Briton," No. 45. 

John Wilkes (1727-1797), dissolute member of parliament for Ayles- 
bury, publisher of the " North Briton," member of the Franciscans 
at Medmenham Abbey, 1768 and 1774 elected to parliament from 
Middlesex, alderman and lord-mayor of London. See under 1768, 
1771 and 1782. 

April 30. Wilkes is arrested on a general warrant issued 
by Lord Halifax, and the Seven Years' War against 
Wilkes begins (Mn., V, 31 ; M., chs. 7 and n ; K, ch. 
1; L., IV, 76-89; Mas., I, IBS" 1 ? ; T - R '\ Rae ' s 
Wilkes, Sheridan, Fox). 

A general warrant is one in which no name is inserted but the officers 
may arrest whom they please. 

May 6. Sir Charles Pratt, Chief Justice of Common 
Pleas, discharges Wilkes on a writ of habeas corpus 
because of his privilege as a member of parliament. 

July-November. Printers bring action against the mes- 
sengers who had arrested them. Pratt and later Mans- 
field hold general warrants illegal. 
August. Negotiations looking to a ministry under Pitt 
which fail because George III declines Temple as head 
of the Treasury. 
Richard Grenville, Earl Temple (1711-1779), brother-in-law of Pitt, 
formerly Lord Privy Seal, supporter of Wilkes and of the Stamp 
Act. Temple, Pitt, and George Grenville form the " Brotherhood." 
Bedford becomes President of the Council, and Sandwich 

a Secretary of State. 
November. Lord Sandwich ("Jemmy Twitcher ") com- 
plains of the "Essay on Woman" in the House of 
Lords, and the House of Commons votes "No. 45" a 
seditious libel and orders it to be burned. 



1763, November 16. Duel between Martin and Wilkes, who 

later withdraws to France. 
November 24. The House of Commons votes that the 
privilege of parliament does not extend to the case of 
writing and publishing seditious libels. 

1764, January. Wilkes expelled from the House of Commons. 
February. Wilkes found guilty of printing "No. 45 " and 

the " Essay on Woman," and not appearing for sentence 
is outlawed. 
April. General Conway is deprived of the command of his 
regiment for condemning general warrants in parliament 
(Mn., V, 55). 
Grenville imposes duties on American trade, tries to stop 
smuggling, and prohibits paper money in the colonies, 
and proposes a stamp duty {Mas., I, ch. 5 ; Mn., V, 
84; L., ch. 12). 

1765, March. The Stamp Act is passed. Disturbances in Amer- 

ica follow its passage. 

This act made it necessary for all bills, newspapers, and legal docu- 
ments of all kinds to be on stamped paper to be sold by public 
officers at varying prices prescribed by the act. The proceeds were 
to be applied exclusively to the protection and defence of the 
colonies. 

April. The king, having been ill, proposes on his recov- 
ery a regency bill {Mn., V, 100). — Debates on the bill 
in the House of Lords and the advice of Halifax and 
Sandwich to the king. 

May. The Regency Act with Morton's clause passed. — 
Attacks on the Duke of Bedford because of his opposi- 
tion to the Silk Duties Bill. — Negotiations of the Duke 
of Cumberland on behalf of the king with Pitt, who is 
prevented from taking office by the attitude of Earl 
Temple {Mn., V, 107 ; Mas., I, 223). 

June. Renewed negotiations with Pitt fail because 
Temple will not join the ministry {M., I, 40 ; Mas., I, 

2 30- 

July 13. First Rockingham [Whig] Ministry (the Lute- 
String Administration). 

Rockingham, First Lord of the Treasury; General Conway and the 
Duke of Grafton, Secretaries of State; Newcastle, Privy Seal; 
Dowdeswell, Chancellor of the Exchequer. 



i3 

1765, October 31. Death of the Duke of Cumberland. 

!y62— 1766. Clive's reforms in India {Macaulafs Clive ; Z., Ill, 

5i8)- 
Robert (Lord) Clive (1725-1774) went to India as a clerk in 1744, 
later showed great military capacity and broke the French power 
in India. He won the battle of Plassey and reconstituted the gov- 
ernment of Calcutta. Governor of Bengal, 1 765-1 767. Committed 
suicide, 1774. 
February. Passage of the Declaratory Act declaring the 
power of Parliament to legislate for the colonies in all 
matters whatsoever. Repeal of the Stamp Act, the 
King's Friends opposing the repeal {Y., ch. 3 ; Z., Ill, 
362-372; Mas., I, ch. 7). 
April. Resolutions of the House of Commons declaring 

general warrants illegal {Mn., V, 153). 
July. Changes in the ministry. Grafton Ministry (Mosaic 
Ministry) with the Duke of Grafton as nominal head and 
Pitt (now created Earl Chatham) as real head. 
Grafton, First Lord of the Treasury; Townshend, Chancellor of the 
Exchequer; Lord Shelburne and Conway, Secretaries of State; 
Chatham, Lord Privy Seal ; Camden, Lord Chancellor. 
Great Northern Alliance planned by Chatham but, Fred- 
erick the Great refusing to join it, it fails {Mn., V, 171). 
November. A motion for an inquiry into the East India 
Company's affairs is moved by Beckford, a friend of 
Chatham {Mas., I, 302, 313). 
1767, March. Chatham withdraws from public affairs. 

May. Townshend gets an act passed taxing glass, tea, 
paper, paints, etc., when imported into America {M., ch. 
17; Mn., V, 189; Z., 111,382). 
Legislative functions of the New York Assembly sus- 
pended. 
September. Townshend dies. North becomes Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer {Mn., V, 193 ; Mas., I, 319). 
Lord North (1733-1792) entered parliament in 1754, became a Lord 
of the Treasury in 1759. In 1767, Chancellor of the Exchequer 
and leader of the House of Commons. Prime Minister, 1 770-1 782, 
when he proved a weak, yielding man constantly overruled by the 
king. Later Secretary of State in 1783. Became Earl of Guilford 
in 1790. 



14 

1767. The Crown grants to Sir James Lowther the forest of 

Inglewood, which had been in the possession of the 
Duke of Portland's family for seventy years (Mn., V, 
198 ; Mas., I, 321). 
Nullum tempus occurrit regi vel ecclesiae. 

1768. Sir George Savile's Nullum Tempus Bill introduced; it 

became an act the next year. 

This secured the property of a subject after sixty years' possession 
against any claims by the Crown. 

March. Parliament dissolved. General election accom- 
panied by much corruption owing to the influence of 
the Nabobs (M., ch. 6). The Christian Club (Mn., V, 
200) at New Shoreham [S. Sussex]. Wilkes is defeated 
for London but elected for Middlesex (Z., ch. 11). 

April. Wilkes committed to prison until the question of 
his outlawry is passed upon. Consequent disturbances. 

May. Parliament opened. Letter of Lord Weymouth to 
the magistrates of Surrey [S. E. England] and the con- 
sequent steps with the Wilkes rioters. 

June 8. Judgment in Wilkes's case. The outlawry is 
declared void, but Wilkes is sentenced to fine and 
imprisonment. 

October. Shelburne is forced out of the ministry and 
Chatham, alleging ill-health, resigns. 

William Pitt, first Earl of Chatham (170S-1778), educated at Eton 
and Oxford, 1735 entered Parliament for Old Sarum, opposed to 
Walpole and Carteret, 1746 made Paymaster of the Forces, in 
1756 Secretary of State and again in 17 57—1761 . Created Earl of 
Chatham in 1766 and becomes Lord Privy Seal. He was opposed 
to the American war and died during it at Hayes. 

November 21. Publication of the letters signed " Junius" 
begins in Woodfall's "Public Advertiser" (Mas., I, 363 ; 
Z., Ill, 253 ; Mn., V, 220). 

1769. February. Wilkes is expelled from the House of Commons 

because of " No. 45," the Essay on Woman, and his com- 
ments on Lord Weymouth's letter, is reelected for Mid- 
dlesex, is declared incapable of sitting and a new election 
ordered {Mn., V, 236 ; M., ch. 7 ; Mas., I, 356). 

Burke, Barre, George Savile, George Grenville, and Beckford all 
opposed this course. 



*5 

1769, March. Wilkes reelected, the election declared void. 
April. Wilkes reelected for the third time, receiving 1 143 

votes to 296 cast for Colonel Luttrcll, who is, however, 

declared elected [16th] (Z., Ill, 154; K, ch. 1). 
May. The electors of Middlesex vainly petition for 

redress. 
Trial of Almon for reprinting a letter of Junius to the 

king. 

1770, January. Parliament opened. Chatham condemns the 

proceedings against Wilkes and, in his "Silken Barons" 
speech, criticizes the ministry. Yorke succeeds Camden, 
who had condemned the Wilkes proceedings, as Lord 
Chancellor, and three days later died, probably by sui- 
cide. Grafton resigns and the ministry is reorganized 
under Lord North [Tory] (Mn., V, 263 ; Z., Ill, 174). 

North, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer; 
Halifax, Privy Seal; Sandwich, Rochford, and Hillsborough, Sec- 
retaries; C. J. Fox was a Junior Lord of the Admiralty and later 
of the Treasury. 

February. Attempt to disfranchise revenue officers fails. 

March. " Boston Massacre." All American import duties 
except that on tea removed (Mn., V, 277 ; Z., Ill, 395). 

April. GrenvilWs Act dealing with controverted elections 
(M., ch. 6 ; Mn., V, 272 ; Z., Ill, 244). 

Originally election petitions had been decided by the king, from the 
1 6th century on by the House of Commons, at first by a specially 
appointed committee, then by the Committee of Privileges and 
Elections. To this came all Privy Councillors and Gentlemen of 
the Long Robe, and finally the whole House tried petitions. By 
the Grenville Act forty-nine names were chosen by ballot, each 
contestant struck out eighteen names ("knocking the brains out 
of committee"), then each side named a member to advocate its 
interests, and the committee of fifteen, thus constituted, tried the 
case on oath and reported to the House. 

June-July. Trials of Woodfall and Miller (M., ch. 9). 

In the trial of Woodfall, Lord Mansfield instructed the jury that 
they were only to judge concerning the fact of publication of the 
alleged libel, not in regard to its criminality. They returned the 
verdict guilty of printing and publishing only. 

June-January (177 1). Quarrel with Spain about the 
Falkland Is. [S. E. of Patagonia]. 



i6 

1770. November. George Grenville dies. 

December. The House of Lords votes to exclude strangers 
from some of its debates. Among the persons so 
excluded were several members of the House of Com- 
mons, present on business. 

177 1. The Grenville and Bedford Whigs join Lord North. Wed- 

derburn becomes Solicitor General (Z., Ill, 182). 
February. The contest of the House of Commons with the 

printers publishing their debates begins (Z., Ill, 278; 

Mn., V, 296 ; M., ch. 7 ; Mas., II, 93). Colonel George 

Onslow complains of misrepresentation and the House 

orders the arrest of printers Wheble and Thompson. 
March 15. Arrest of Wheble and Thompson who are 

brought before Aldermen Wilkes and Oliver. 
March 16. Miller is arrested by a messenger of the 

House of Commons and is discharged by Lord Mayor 

Brass Crosby. 

He had not been arrested on the warrant of a city magistrate and his 
arrest was illegal by the city charter. 

March 25-27. Oliver and Crosby are sent to the Tower, 

where they remain until the end of the session in May. 

Wilkes is not punished. 
October. Marriage of the Duke of Cumberland, brother 

of the king, to Mrs. Horton, and announcement of the 

marriage of the Duke of Gloucester. 

1772. Royal Marriage Act (M., ch. 4; Y., ch. 2 ; Z., Ill, 502). 

This act prohibited all descendants of George II from marrying 
until they were twehty-five years old without the king's consent. 
After that age they might marry without the royal consent provided 
they had given twelve months' notice of the intended marriage to 
the Privy Council and meanwhile both Houses of Parliament had 
not signified their disapproval. C. J. Fox opposed the passage of 
this act. Any person solemnizing or being present at the prohibited 
marriage incurred the penalties of prcemunire. 

Sommersett's case. Lord Mansfield decides that slavery 
cannot exist in England. 

1773. Lord North's Act in regard to tea imported to America. 

This allowed a drawback of all the duties paid in England on any 
teas imported to America by the East India Company, and also 
allowed them to import tea to America direct. 



i7 

1773- Regulating Act for India passed (Mn., VII, 247 ; Z., Ill, 

5 2 9> 

The East India Company, which was embarrassed, was loaned money 
by the government and its dividends limited. By this act all impor- 
tant trials in India were to be in a Supreme Court consisting of a 
chief justice (Elijah Impey) and three puisne judges appointed 
by the Crown. There was to be a Governor General (Warren 
Hastings) with four councillors controlling him. All these 
officers were excluded from commercial pursuits and could not 
receive presents. 

December 16. Boston "Tea Party" (Z., Ill, 420). 

1774, March. Boston Port Bill passed (Mn., VI, 3; Z., Ill, 

43 0- 
The port of Boston was legally closed and the custom house removed 
to Salem until order should be restored and compensation made 
to the East India Company for tea destroyed. 

April. Massachusetts Government Bill passed. 

The Massachusetts charter remodelled, the Council, hitherto elective, 
was to be appointed by the Crown. Judges and magistrates to be 
appointed by the Governor. The right of meeting is abridged. 

Act for " the impartial administration of justice " in Mass- 
achusetts. 

Quebec Act (Z., Ill, 433). 

This act extended the boundaries of the province of Quebec to the 
Ohio and the Mississippi. The French law was to prevail in 
Canada in civil cases. A Legislative Council appointed by the 
Crown was to manage all legislative business except taxation. The 
Roman Catholic worship authorized. 

September. First Continental Congress meeting at Phila- 
delphia denies the right of Parliament to tax the colonies. 

Wilkes is elected for Middlesex and allowed to take his 
seat. He is also chosen Lord Mayor. 

1775, February 1. Chatham's scheme for conciliation with 

America laid before the House of Lords, it is rejected 
(Mn., VI, 26). 

It asserted the right of Parliament to bind the colonies in all matters 
of imperial concern but there was to be no taxation without the 
consent of the American representative assemblies. The American 
Congress to be made a permanent body and to be asked for a free 
grant of money. Acts relating to America passed since 1764 to be 
repealed. 



i8 

1775, February 20. North's resolution for conciliation {Mn., 

VI, 33 ; L., Ill, 459). It fails of effect. 

If the legislature of any colony proposed a grant which was approved 
by King and Parliament, no tax should be levied or imposed in that 
colony while the grant was paid. 

March. Burke's resolutions for conciliation defeated. 

They declared the propriety of repealing several of the recent acts, of 
appointing judges during good behavior and improving the Admir- 
alty Courts but did not touch on the question of abstract right. 

April 19. Battle of Lexington, retreat of the British. 
June 17. Battle of Bunker's Hill {Mn., VI, 58; Mas., 

n > 233)- 
August. Lords George Germaine and Weymouth made 

Secretaries of State. 
September 1. "Olive Branch" Petition from Congress, 

brought by Richard Penn, received {Mn., VI, 65, 72). 
December. American Prohibitory Act passed {Mn., VI, 

75)- 

Port Act repealed but all trade and commerce with the thirteen 
colonies prohibited and capture of American vessels authorized. 

1776, March 17. The English are forced to evacuate Boston. 
July 4. Declaration of Independence. 

September 15. Occupation of New York by the British. 
December 26. Washington defeats the Hessians at Tren- 
ton. 

1777, May 30. Chatham moves an Address asking for an end- 

ing of the war with the colonies {Mn., VI, 153). 
Franklin and Silas Deane obtain for the colonies secret 

aid from the French. 
October 17. Burgoyne surrenders at Saratoga. 

1778, February. France makes Treaties of Commerce and 

Alliance with the Americans which are communicated 
to the English ministry in March ; war with France 
results. 
March. Three Acts passed for conciliation (Z., IV, 82). 

1. Renounced claim of parliamentary taxation. 

2. Provided for the appointment of five commissioners to treat with 
the colonies. 

3. Repealed Massachusetts Government Act. 

Lord North desires to resign and wants Chatham sent for. 



J 9 

1778, April 7. Chatham makes his last speech in Parliament in 

opposition to the Duke of Richmond's motion to recog- 
nize the independence of the United States {Mn., VI, 
240 ; Mas., II, 364). 
May n. Chatham dies at Hayes [W. Middlesex], 
May. Sir George Savile brings in a bill for the relaxation 
of the penal code against the Roman Catholics. It is 
passed {Mn., VI, 249; M., ch. 12; L., Ill, ch. 13; 
Mas., II, 371). 

It repealed among others the laws punishing Catholic priests for 
holding service, those which disabled Catholics from purchasing 
land, and those which forfeited the estates of Catholic heirs edu- 
cated abroad in favor of the next Protestant heir. It applied to 
England only. See 1791. 

June. Gardiner's Catholic Relief Act for Ireland (Z., IV, 

1779, January-February. No Popery Riots in Scotland. 
Corresponding Committees and the Protestant Association 

formed with Lord George Gordon as president {Mn., 

VI, 273; M., ch. 12; L., Ill, 552). 
June. Spain declares war against England {Mn., VI, 

276). 
July. The French and Spanish besiege Gibraltar [S. 

Spain]. 
November. Case of the Dean of St. Asaph. Erskine's 

argument {M., ch. 9). 
In this year in Ireland dissenters are admitted to office, 

the Volunteers become prominent, more freedom of 

trade is obtained {£., IV, 541). 

1780, February 8. Sir George Savile presents in the House of 

Commons the Yorkshire Petition for Economical Reform 

{Mn., VII, 4). 
February 11. Burke's speech on Economical Reform. 

A bill is later brought in but no action is taken this year 

{Mo r ley's Burke, 165-171). 
April 6. Dunning's Resolution {Mn., VII, 13 ; Mas., II, 

45°)- 
"That the influence of the Crown has increased, is increasing, and 
ought to be diminished." 



20 

1780, June 2. Duke of Richmond's reform scheme moved in 

the House of Lords. 

It favored annual parliaments and unrestricted suffrage. 

June 2. The Protestant Association meets at St. George's 
Fields, goes to Westminster Halt, and Lord George Gor- 
don presents its petition for the repeal of the Roman 
Catholic Relief Act. Disorders in Palace Yard (Mn., 
VII, 17; V., ch. 3; M., ch.9). 

June 2-7. Rioting in London ending on Black Wednes- 
day. 

June 20. Repeal of the Relief Act refused. 

Catherine of Russia with Sweden and Denmark formed 
this year the Armed Neutrality which Holland, Prussia, 
France, and Spain later supported (Mn., VII, 46). 

December 20. War with Holland declared (Mn., VII, 
84). 

1 78 1, July 1. Hyder Ali defeated by Sir Eyre Coote at Porto 

Novo (Mn., VII, 300). 
Robbery of Cheyte Sing and later of the Begums of 

Oude by Hastings (Mn., VII, 305). 
August 5. The Dutch defeated at the Dogger Bank 

[Near Holland]. 
October 19. Cornwallis surrenders at Yorktown (L., IV, 

216; Mn., VII, 126; Mas., Ill, 60). 
December. Opposition in Parliament to the Ministry led 

by C. J. Fox ("Black Fox"), Burke and Pitt (Mn., VII, 

Addresses against the continuance of the war. 

1782, January. Resignation of Lord George Germaine as 

Secretary of State. 
February 5. Surrender of Minorca [E. of Spain] to the 

Spanish (Mn., VII, 140; L., IV, 219). 
February 15. Delegates from the Irish Volunteers adopt 

a resolution in favor of legislative independence for 

Ireland prepared by Grattan (Mn., VII, 161). 
February 22. General Conway moves an Address asking 

that the American war be discontinued ; it is lost by one 

vote. 



1782, March 4. Motion to the effect that the House of Com- 
mons would consider all those advising further offensive 
war in America enemies to the country carried. 

March 20. Resignation of Lord North (Mh. } VII, 146; 
Mas., Ill, 73). 

Second Rockingham [Whig] Ministry formed (Z., IV, 
22 1). 

Five Rock inghams, including Rockingham, First Lord of Treasury; 
Cavendish, Chancellor of the Exchequer; Fox, Foreign Secretary 
of State; Viscount Keppel, First Lord of the Admiralty; and 
Duke of Richmond. Five Chathamites, including Shelburne, Secre- 
tary of State; Camden, President of Council; Grafton, Privy 
Seal; Conway and Lord Ashburton. Besides these Whigs there 
was a Tory Chancellor, Thurlow. The office of Secretary of State 
for the Colonies is abolished about this time. 

April. Grattan's resolutions favoring legislative inde- 
pendence for Ireland pass the Irish Parliament. — 
Clerke's bill excluding contractors from the House of 
Commons and Crewe's bill disfranchising revenue 
officers brought in to the English House of Commons 
{Mn., VII, 169; Z., IV, 234; M. } ch. 6) and later 
passed. 

Resolutions of 1769 concerning Wilkes expunged from 
the journals of the House. Rodney [April 12th] defeats 
the French under Comte de Grasse in the West Indies. 

May 7. Pitt's first motion in favor of reform rejected. 

May. The English Parliament remedies' Irish difficulties 
by repealing 6 George I and the Permanent Mutiny Act 
and modifying Poynings's Law so as to prevent suppres- 
sion of Irish bills in the Privy Council (Z., IV, 597). 

6 George I asserted in strongest terms the right of the King and 
British Parliament to legislate for Ireland. Poynings's Law or 
Statute of Drogheda [1494] provided that all bills before Irish 
Parliament, except money bills, should be sent to Privy Council in 
England, by whom they could be either altered or suppressed. 

June. Burke's Bill for Economical Reform introduced in 
the Commons, it passes the House of Lords in July (Z., 
IV, 236 ; Mn., VII, 169 ; M., I, 197, 212 ; K, ch. 3). 

This measure, sometimes known as Lord Rockingham's Civil List 
Act, abolished the office of Secretary of State for the Colonies and 
many sinecure offices, regulated pensions providing that no one 



22 

person should receive more than £300 per year and that the amount 
granted in one year should not exceed ,£600. It effected a saving 
of more than £72,000 a year. 

1782. Fox and Shelburne disagree about peace negotiations with 

Franklin. Quarrels in the Cabinet {Mn., VII, 186). 
July 1. Death of Lord Rockingham. 
Shelburne [Whig] Ministry formed. Fox and Burke 

resign and go into opposition. 

Shelburne, First Lord of the Treasury ; Pitt, Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer; Grafton, Privy Seal; Camden, Keppel, Richmond, Dun- 
das. Thurlow, Lord Chancellor. 

October. Lord Howe relieves Gibraltar (Mn., VII, 204). 
November 30. Preliminaries of Peace with the Americans 
signed at Paris (Z., IV, 272 ; Mas., Ill, 139). 

The independence of the United States acknowledged. Boundaries 
and fishing rights fixed. Congress is to recommend to the legisla- 
tures restitution to the loyalists of their estates. The English too 
at once withdraw their fleets and armies. Navigation of the 
Mississippi to be free to both England and the United States. 

1783, January 20. Preliminaries of Peace with France and 

Spain — Truce with Holland. 
February 14. Coalition between Fox and North against 

Shelburne agreed upon (Z., IV, 293 ; F, I, 348). 
February 21. Resolutions of censure on the peace moved 

and carried, as a result Shelburne resigns on the 24th. 
Interministerial of five weeks ; George III tries to get Pitt, 

Lord Gower, or Lord Chatham to head a ministry. 
April 2. Portland or Coalition flinistry [Prince's 

Ministry] (F, II, 3 ; P., ch. 3 ; Mas., Ill, 154). 

Duke of Portland, First Lord of Treasury ; Fox and North, Foreign 
and Home Secretaries of State; Cavendish, Chancellor of the 
Exchequer ; Stormont, Carlisle, Keppel, Burke, Sheridan. 

April. Dundas introduces an India bill (Z., IV, 310; 

Mas., Ill, 184). 
June. Quarrel between the king and the ministers on 

the question of an allowance to the Prince of Wales 

(F, II, 8). 

An allowance of Z" 100,000 per year proposed and Z5 >°°° per year 
from the King's Civil List was finally granted, the Prince to have 
the revenues of the Duchy of Cornwall. 



23 

1783, September 3. Final treaty with the United States at 

Paris — Treaty of Versailles between Great Britain, 
France and Spain (Mn., VII, 216; Z., IV, 271 ; P., I, 
363 ; L. A., 60 ; Sabine's Loyalists). 
England ceded to France, Tobago and Senegal ; to Spain, Minorca 
and Florida. French fishing rights off Newfoundland reaffirmed. 

November 18. Fox introduces his India Bill; it passes 
the House of Commons December 8. 

It proposed to establish a Board of seven persons under whose con- 
trol the whole government of India was to be placed, this Board 
was in the first instance to be named by Parliament for four years, 
after that by the Crown. A subordinate council was to manage 
commerce. The accounts of the Board were to be open to parlia- 
mentary inspection. 

December 17. Bill defeated in the House of Lords, the 
influence of the king being directed against it through 
Earl Temple (Mas., Ill, 205). 

December 18. Coalition dismissed (JZ, I, 68 ; II, 36). 

December 19. Pitt [Tory] Ministry. New writ moved 
for Appleby [N. England] and Pitt later re-elected. 
Conduct of Pitt's opponents (Z., ch. 18). 

December 23. Cabinet finally formed. 

Pitt, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer; 
Earl Gower, Lord President ; Carmarthen and Sydney, Secretaries 
of State; Henry Dundas; Thurlow, Lord Chancellor. 

1784, January 23. Pitt's India Bill rejected. 

January. Barre' given Clerkship of the Pells and his pen- 
sion saved. 

March. Addresses to the Crown asking for removal of 
the ministry failing of effect, the Supply and Mutiny 
Bills are passed. Parliament is dissolved on the 25th 
(Z., IV, 332). 

March-May. General Election. Defeat of Fox's Martyrs, 
160 of the Coalition's followers losing their seats. 

April. Westminster Elcctio?i. Fox chosen but the High 
Bailiff delays the final return by a scrutiny. Fox gets a 
seat for Kirkwall [Orkney Is.], a close borough (F., II, 
99, 108 ; T. E. S., 162 ; M., I, 280). 

Commutation Act reducing the duty on tea and an act re- 
ducing the duty on spirits passed to prevent smuggling. 



24 

1784, July. Pitfs India Bill brought in a second time and 

passed (M., II, 544; P., I, 224; K, ch. 4; Mas., Ill, 
256). 
It created a Board of Control, consisting of six members of the Privy 
Council, with supreme power over the administration of the Com- 
pany, civil and military. All patronage and business was to be left 
in the hands of the Company but the Crown was to have veto 
power in the case of the appointment of the chief officers. The 
arrangement is known as the Double Government and lasts until 
1858. 

Hovering Act (Z., V, 31). 

1785, February. Proposals of Mr. Pitt concerning commercial 

freedom for Ireland adopted by the Irish Parliament (Z., 
VI, 388). 
April. Pitfs proposal f 0)' reform of the representation (Z., 
V,6i; M., I, 317). 

Thirty-six boroughs returning seventy-two members were to be dis- 
franchised, their patrons compensated, and the seats given to 
London, Westminster, and the counties. The project fails by a 
vote of 248 to 174. 

May. The Irish commerce scheme is brought forward in 

the English Parliament, subjected to much amendment, 

and later passed. 
August. The amended scheme is withdrawn in the Irish 

Parliament on account of opposition (M., II, 496). 
December 21. The Prince of Wales is married to Mrs. 

Fitzherbert, a Roman Catholic (Z., V, 88 ; P., II, 177). 

1786, Pitt's Sinking Fund Scheme passed. Fallacy in its later 

operation (Z., V, 47). 

One million pounds, raised by extra taxes, was to be set apart each 
year and invested at compound interest for the purpose of paying 
off the national debt. 

April. Burke brings charges against Warren Hastings on 
account of his conduct in the Rohilla War and (June 1st) 
moves his impeachment. Motion lost (P., II, 146). 

Edmund Burke (1729-1797), born in Dublin and educated at Trinity 
College, was secretary to Rockingham in 1765, and in Parliament 
the same year. He opposed American taxation. In 1782 he was 
Paymaster of the Forces, he opposed Shelburne, and in 1783 was 
again Paymaster. He attacked Regency Bill of 1788. He later 
opposed French Revolution. Whig. Nickname "Dinner Bell." 
See under 1780-82, 1787-91. 



25 

Warren Hastings (1732-1818) went to India in 1750. In 1772 he was 
named Governor of Bengal, and in 1773 Governor-General. He 
returned from India 1785. He was most successful in internal 
administration and placed the English Empire in India on a secure 
basis. 

1786, June 13. Fox brings forward the Benares charge against 

Hastings and moves his impeachment. Motion carried. 
The Oude charge is brought forward the next year by 
Sheridan. 

Charles James Fox (1 749-1 806), the second son of Lord Holland, was 
educated at Eton and Oxford and entered Parliament for Midhurst. 
He was a junior Lord of the Admiralty in the early years of Lord 
North's administration, later left the ministry, opposed it and the 
Royal Marriage Act. He was Secretary of State under Lord 
Rockingham and in the Coalition Ministry, but opposed Pitt and 
remained out of ministerial office after the fall of the Coalition 
until 1806. He was a Whig in politics. He favored the French 
Revolution and was irregular in his private life. He was nick- 
named " Man of the People." See also under 1782-1784, 1788-1791, 
and 1806. 

Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816) was born in Dublin. He 
entered Parliament in 1780 and held office under Rockingham and 
the Coalition but opposed Pitt. He was a faithful Whig. He 
upheld the French Revolution. 

September. Commercial Treaty with France {P., I, 317). 

It removed or reduced duties, especially prohibitory ones, and par- 
ticularly favored French wines, vinegar, brandy, and olive oil. 
It was to continue twelve years. 

Whiteboy outrages in Ireland (D. E. ZZ, 1069; Z., VI, 
408). 

1787, Duties and Taxes brought into a Consolidated Fund. 
April. During the discussion of a motion for the pay- 
ment of the debts of the Prince of Wales, Fox denies 
the Fitzherbert marriage alluded to by Rolle in Parlia- 
ment (Z., V, 92). 

May 10. Resolution to impeach Hastings agreed to in 
Committee voted by the House (Macanlay 's Essays on 
Hastings and Clive, Burke's Speech). 

1788, February 13. Trial of Hastings begins in Westminster 

Hall. 
May. First motion looking toward the abolition of the 
slave trade. Sir William Dolben's Act for the better 
regulation of slave ships passed {Mas., Ill, 342). 



26 

1788, November. Insanity of the king. The question of a regency 

and the restrictions upon it arises. Conduct of Thnrlow, 
who is ratically inclined (P., I, 383 ; Z., V, 96 ; P., II, 
189). 
December. The king's physicians express hope of his 
ultimate recovery. Pitt advocates the appointment of a 
commission to search for precedents for a regency, Fox 
declares that the " heir-apparent has an inherent right 
to assume the reins of government." Pitt's resolutions 
in favor of the right of Parliament to settle the regency, 
his proposed "Phantom " (M., ch. 3). 

1789, January. Pitt announces to Parliament his regency plan. 
February 3. Parliament opened in form by a Commission 

under the Great Seal. Pitt's Regency Bill introduced, 
before it finally passed the Lords the king recovered. 
The Irish Parliament meanwhile had invited the Prince 
to become regent. 

Pitt's bill proposed that the care of the king's ])erson should remain 
in the hands of the queen, that the regent should create no new 
peers, that he should not make any grants of land, that he should 
not grant any pension or office except during the king's pleasure 
unless it must be by law granted for life. 

French revolution begins, the opinion of it in England. 
December. Trial of Stockdale for publishing a defence 

of Hastings. He is defended by Erskine and acquitted 

(M., ch. 9). 
1789-90. Eastern difficulties with Catherine (Z., V, 210). 

1790, January. Fox declares his sympathy for the French Revo- 

lution and a coolness arises between him and Burke. 
Prospect of war with Spain (P., I, 359) on account of the 

seizure of the Iphigenia in Nootka Sound [Vancouver 

Is.]. 
October. Burke publishes his " Reflections on the French 

Revolution" (Z., V, 462). 

1 79 1, May. Discussion on the Canada Bill causes a breach 

between Fox and Burke (P., I, 393 ; Z., V, 503 ; P., II, 

253)- 
The act as passed divided the province into Upper [English] and 
Lower [French] Canada and gave a representative assembly to 
each part. It also provided for hereditary titles in Canada, though 



2 7 

none have ever been conferred, and for a permanent appropriation 
of lands for the maintenance of the Protestant clergy. 

1 79 1. Fox's Libel Bill introduced, it passes the House of Com- 

mons but is lost in the House of Lords (P., I, 397). 
Mitford's Act for Roman Catholic Relief passed (M., ch. 

12). 
July. Riots at Birmingham [N. W. Warwick] because 

of a Unitarian clergyman, Dr. Priestley, favoring the 

French Revolution (Mas., Ill, 462). 
October. Society of United Irishmen formed by Wolfe 

Tone (Z., VI, 465). 

1792. Society of the Friends of the People formed (P., I, 438). 
Among its members were Grey, Erskine, Sheridan, and Lord John 

Russell. 
February. The Catholic Relief Act for Ireland passes the 
Irish Parliament (Z., VI, 503 ; T. C, 126). 

It enabled Roman Catholics to enter the legal profession though 
not opening judgeships to them, it allowed intermarriages of 
Catholics and Protestants and removed restrictions in school- 
teaching and in the number of Catholic apprentices. 

April. Warren Hastings acquitted. 

May. Fox's Libel Act, having the support of Pitt, Erskine, 
and Camden, is passed (M., ch. 9; P., ch. 16). Thur- 
low is removed from the Chancellorship. 

The act declared that jurors had the right to decide whether a publi- 
cation was libellous or not as well as to the fact of publication. 

August. Pitt made the Warden of the Cinque Ports [In 
Sussex and Kent] (Mas., Ill, 493). 

November 16. The French open the Scheldt to com- 
merce. 

This year sees the close of the liberal period of Pitt's 
ministry. 

William Pitt (17 59-1806) was the second son of Earl Chatham. He 
was educated at Cambridge and in 1780 was returned to Parlia- 
ment from Appleby, making his first speech in favor of Burke's 
plan for Economical Reform. He opposed Lord North but sup- 
ported Rockingham. He became prime minister in 1783, and held 
office until 1801. He was again prime minister in 1804 to 1806. 
He was noted for his control over Parliament. 

1793. January. Louis XVI executed. The French minister 

ordered to leave England. 



28 

1793- Alien Act passed (M., ch. n; Z., VI, 77). 

Aliens entering England have to register their names and give up 
their arms. They are not to travel without passports, may have to 
reside in special districts, and may be expelled from England. 

February 1. France declares war against England and 
Holland (Z., VI, 127 ; K, II, 337 ; Mas., Ill, 508). 

March. Further Catholic Relief granted in Ireland (Z., 
VI, 566; M., ch. 12 ; T. C, 129). 

This act gave Roman Catholics the electoral franchise, the privilege 
of becoming grand jurors, the power to endow educational institu- 
tions and to obtain degrees from Dublin University, the privilege 
of commissions in the army and navy, etc. 

Traitorous Correspondence Act passed (P., II, 8). 
May. Grey's motion for parliamentary reform lost [232 
to 41]. 

Charles, Earl Grey (1764-1845), was educated at Eton and Cambridge 
and in 1786 entered parliament as a Whig. He was a bitter oppo- 
nent of Pitt. In 1806 he was made First Lord of Admiralty, became 
a peer in 1807 and in 1830 Prime Minister. He was distinguished 
for his advocacy of reform in the representation. 

August-September. Treason trials of Muir and Palmer 
in Scotland (M., ch. 9 ; P., II, 23 ; Mas., IV, 65). 
1794. Activity of the London Corresponding Society and the 
Society for Constitutional Information (M., ch. 9). Trials 
for Sedition (Mas., ch. ^^). 

May. Habeas Corpus Act suspended (M., ch. 11), the 
suspension lasts until 1801. 

July. The Duke of Portland and some of the old Whigs 
join the ministry. A third Secretaryship of State is 
established. 

August-September. Trials of Watt and Dovvnie in Scot- 
land (M., ch. 9). 

September. Pop-Gun Plot. 

October-November. Treason trials of Hardy, Home 
Tooke and Thelwall who are defended by Erskine and 
acquitted (M., ch. 9 ; Mas., IV, 93). 

Towards the close of the year Lord Fitzwilliam is appointed 
Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, he is in favor of further 
Catholic Relief (Z., VII, 35) and is recalled in February, 
J795- 



2 9 

i795> March. Camden appointed Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. 

April. Passage of the act establishing Maynooth College 
in Ireland (Z., VII, 117). The Prince of Wales is 
married to his cousin Caroline of Brunswick and the 
payment of his debts provided for (Mas., IV, 145). 

War with the Dutch, Cape of Good Hope taken. Later 
war is declared by Spain against the English. 

June-July. Fruitless expedition to Quiberon (P., ch. 21). 

July. Prussia concludes the Peace of Basle with France. 

September. Battle of the Diamond in Ireland. Orange 
Society formed (£., VII, 177). 

November. Treasonable Practices and Seditious Meetings 
Acts (P., II, 139), a part of Pitt's Reign of Terror, passed 
on account of attacks on the king in October- (M., ch. 
9). 

The first dispensed with proof of overt acts of treason and provided 
that anyone expressing in writing or speaking a design on the life 
or power of the king or proposing to levy war against him should 
suffer the penalties of treason. 

The second provided that for three years no meetings for discussing 
grievances in church or state should be held without previous notice 
to a magistrate who was given power to disperse the meeting. 

1796. Peace negotiations with the Directory fail (P., II, 149). 
December. Expedition of French under Hoche and Wolfe 

Tone to Bantry Bay in Ireland, its failure (P., II, 180). 

1797, February 14. Nelson and Jervis defeat the French and 

Spanish off Cape St. Vincent [S. W. Portugal]. 

February 26. Order in Council issued prohibiting specie 
payments by the Bank of England. 

April. A mutiny in the Channel Fleet at Portsmouth [S. 
England] and another breaking out again the next 
month at St. Helen's lead to the granting of the demands 
of the men for increase of pay and pensions and the 
removal of unpopular officers (Mas., IV, 223; p., Ill, 
108). 

May-June. Mutiny at Sheerness [Mouth of the 
Thames] fomented by Parker (P., II, 202). 

October n. Duncan defeats the Dutch fleet off Camper- 
down [N. Holland]. 

October 17. Peace of Campo Formio [N. E. Venetia]. 



3° 

1798, March. Arrest of some leaders of the United Irishmen. 
May 9. Fox's name is stricken from the list of Privy 

Councillors. 
May 19. Arrest of Lord Edward Fitzgerald, the Irish 

leader (Z., VIII, 42). A few days later the Irish 

Rebellion begins (Z*., II, 266). 
June 20. Lord Cornwallis arrives in Ireland to succeed 

Camden as Lord Lieutenant (Z., VIII, 173). 
June 21. Lake defeats the Irish rebels at Vinegar Hill 

(P., II, 291). 
August 1. Nelson wins the Battle of the Nile. 
The Fox Whigs secede from Parliament in 1797 and 

absent themselves from it during this year (Z., ch. 51) 

and until 1800. 

1799, An income tax of ten per cent on incomes over ^200 is 

imposed (Z*., II, 308). 

July. The Second Coalition [England, Austria, Russia] 
against France formed. 

October. The Duke of York is defeated at Bergen [W. 
Holland]. 

November. Napoleon First Consul (Z'., II, 336). 

During this year a union between Great Britian and Ire- 
land is discussed in both the English and Irish Parlia- 
ments and liberal inducements are held out to proprietors 
of Irish boroughs by Cornwallis and Castlereagh, the 
Secretary for Ireland (Z., ch. 37). 

1800, June. Act for the Union of England and Ireland passes 

the Irish Parliament. It then passed the English Par- 
liament and received the royal assent on July 2d (Z C, 
179 ; M., chs. 5 and 16 ; Z. A., 187 ; Y., ch. 5.) 
The Irish Parliament is brought to a close. Ireland is to be repre- 
sented in the Parliament of the United Kingdom by four bishops 
sitting in annual rotation, 28 temporal peers elected for life, and 
100 commoners. Irish peers can sit for any English seat in House 
of Commons. The number of Irish peers was to be gradually 
reduced to 100. Restrictions on Irish commerce were in large 
measure removed. The Irish Church was established by law and 
united with the English Church. 

September. The English take Malta from the French. 
The Armed Neutrality between Russia, Sweden, Denmark 
and Prussia is revived. 



3i 

1801, January. The first Imperial Parliament of the United 

Kingdom meets. 

February. Pitt, who had secured the passage of the Union 
(Z., chs. 31, 32) by an understanding that he would 
introduce a measure for Roman Catholic political 
emancipation, finds that the king, owing to the influence 
of Lord Loughborough [a ratter], is opposed to such a 
measure and resigns. Consequent illness of the king 
who temporarily loses his reason. 

March. The Addington [Tory] Ministry takes office 
after some delay caused by the king's illness (P., Ill, 

3 01 )- 
Addington, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the 
Exchequer; Eldon, Lord Chancellor; Lord Hawkesbury (later 
Lord of Liverpool), Foreign Secretary; Duke of Portland, Presi- 
dent of the Council; Earl of Chatham and others. 

April 2. Bombardment of Copenhagen [E. Denmark] by 
Nelson and Parker ; the Armed Neutrality is broken up. 

October 1. Preliminaries of Peace with France signed 
(P., Ill, 27). 

They are criticised in Parliament by Lord Grenville and others of 
Pitt's friends. 

Indemnity Act passed on the expiration of the suspension 
of the Habeas Corpus Act (Af., ch. n). 

1802, March 27. Treaty of Amiens [N. France] signed. 

England restores all her conquests except Ceylon and Trinidad. 
Malta is to be given to the Order of St. John and Egypt to be 
restored to Turkey. France recognizes the Republic of the Ionian 
Islands. 

May. " The pilot that weathered the storm " song. 
July. General Election — Napoleon demands of England 
(P., Ill, 56) that 

1, French emigrants be expelled from Channel Islands. 

2, Bourbon princes be obliged to leave England. 

3, Persons in England be prohibited from wearing decorations of 

French royal house. 

4, Attacks of English press, especially of Peltier in l'Ambigu, be 

stopped. 

5, Malta should be surrendered. 
These demands were refused. 



32 

1803, February. Peltier is convicted of 'libel 'but never sentenced. 
May 1 8. War declared with France (P., Ill, 127). 

May 27. English travellers in France seized. 
June. Pitt in marked opposition to Addington. 

" Pitt is to Addington 
As London to Paddington." 

July. Emmetfs rising in Dublin, it is put down and he is 
later executed (Z., VIII, 530). 

Volunteers raised in England to resist an expected Napo- 
leonic invasion. 

September 23. Sir Arthur Wellesley [Duke of Welling- 
ton] wins battle of Assye [W. Central India]. 

1804, Pitt, Fox, and Grenville all oppose Addington's measures. 
February. Temporary insanity of George III. 

May. Addington ["The Doctor"] resigns and Pitt forms 
his second ministry without Grenville or Fox, the king 
refusing to have the latter. 

Pitt, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer; 
Eldon, Lord Chancellor; Duke of Portland, Lord President; Lord 
Hawkesbury, Lord Camden, Secretaries; Lord Melville [Dundas], 
Admiralty. 

Bill for the abolition of slave trade passes the Commons 
but is thrown out by the House of Lords. 

1805, January. Addington becomes Viscount Sidmouth and 

joins the ministry, replacing the Duke of Portland as 
President of the Council. 

April 8. Melville is censured for his conduct as Treasurer 
of the Navy in Pitt's first administration by a vote of 
217 to 216, Speaker Abbot giving the casting vote, and 
resigns from the ministry (P., Ill, 313). 

June. Melville impeached, he is later tried and acquitted 
in 1806. 

July. Lord Sidmouth resigns from the ministry. 

August. Third Coalition formed against France. Eng- 
land, Austria, and Russia are the principal members. — 
Scheme of Napoleon for invading England. 

October 19. Capitulation of the Austrians at Ulm. 

October 21. Nelson defeats the French and Spanish off 
Trafalgar [S. Spain] but is killed. 



33 

1805, December 2. Austrians and Russians defeated at Auster- 

litz [S. Moravia], 

1806, January 23. Death of Pitt at Putney. 

February. Grenville or "All the Talents" [Coalition] 
Ministry formed. Fox a member (F., Ill, 368). 

Grenville (nephew of George Grenville), First Lord of the Treasury; 
Fox, Foreign Secretary; Erskine, Lord Chancellor; Sidmouth, 
Privy Seal; Lord Henry Petty, Chancellor of the Exchequer; 
Lords Spencer, Auckland, and Ellenborough (the Lord Chief Jus- 
tice). 

March-April. Fox attempts through M. de Talleyrand to 

negotiate peace with Napoleon. 
July. Stuart defeats the French at Maida in Sicily. 
September 13. Death of Fox. 
Viscount Howick, formerly Mr. Grey, becomes Foreign 

Secretary. 
November 21. Napoleon issues the Berlin Decree (£>., 

V, 232 ; Woolsefs International Law, § 206). 
This decree declared the British Islands to be in a state of blockade, 

forbade France or any of her allies to trade with them. It declared 

all English property in a state occupied by French troops forfeited. 
Lord Minto is this year appointed Governor-General of 

India. 
1807, January 7. Order in Council prohibiting trade between 

ports from which British vessels were excluded. 
February. Expedition to the Dardanelles, it fails. 
March. Act passed abolishing slave trade after January 1, 

1808. 

This reform was the work of Clarkson, Wilberforce, and Zachary 
Macaulay. 

The Grenville Ministry, refusing to promise never to advise 
the king on the question of Catholic relief, leaves office 
(M., chs. 1, 12). 2nd Portland [Tory] Ministry formed. 
Parliament is dissolved, and a general election, with 
"No Popery" and "Church and King" cries, gives a 
Tory majority. 

Portland, First Lord of the Treasury; Perceval, Chancellor of the 
Exchequer; Canning, Foreign Secretary; Castlereagh, War and 
Colonial Secretary; Eldon, Lord Chancellor; Hawkesbury, later 
Earl of Liverpool, Home Secretary; Huskisson, Sir Arthur Welles- 
ley. 



34 

1807, May. Expedition to Buenos Ayres under Whitelocke. 
July 7. Peace of Tilsit [N. E. Prussia]. 

September. Copenhagen is bombarded and the Danish 

fleet taken and brought to England. 
November 11. Second Order in Council declaring a 

blockade of the ports of France and her allies. 
December 17. Milan Decree (fVoolsej's International 

Law, 393). 

1808, Sir Samuel Romilly obtains abolition of capital punish- 

ment for picking pockets (M., ch. 18). 
Rising in Spain against Napoleon. In August Sir Arthur 
Wellesley is sent to Portugal and Peninsula War begins. 

1809, July-November. The Wakheren [S. W. Holland] Expe- 

dition under Thomas Pitt, second Earl Chatham. It is a 
failure. 

September 9. A duel [" Battle of Putney"] between Can- 
ning and Castlereagh. Reconstruction of the Ministry 
owing to their quarrels. 

October. Perceval [High Tory] Ministry. 

Perceval, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer; Wellesley, Foreign Secretary; Liverpool, Colonial and 
War Secretary; Eldon, Lord Chancellor; Ryder, Peel, Palmerston. 

December 29. Gladstone born. 

18 10, April. Burdett Riots (M., ch. 7). 

November. George III becomes permanently insane. 

181 1, February. A Regency Act modelled on that proposed in 

1788 is passed and the Prince of Wales becomes regent 
with restrictions. 
November 16. John Bright born. 
1811-1816. Luddite Riots (M., ch. 10; D. E. H., 694). 

181 2, February. Wellesley resigns and Castlereagh becomes 

Foreign Secretary. 

May 11. Perceval assassinated by a lunatic, Bellingham. 

June. Liverpool [Tory] Ministry. 

Liverpool, First Lord of the Treasury ; Castlereagh, Foreign Sec- 
retary; Sidmouth, Home Secretary; Vansittart, Chancellor of the 
Exchequer; Eldon, Harrowby, Palmerston, Huskisson, Robinson, 
Melville. 

June 18. War with the United States begins, it lasts until 
1814. 



35 

1814, May 30. First Peace of Paris. 

England kept at the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Malta, Ceylon, 
Cape of Good Hope, Guiana, Tobago, St. Lucia and Mauritius. 

1814, September-1815, June. Congress at Vienna. 

1815, February. Corn Act passed prohibiting the importation 

of foreign wheat when the price at home was below 8ox. 

a quarter, and of colonial wheat when the price at home 

was below 67 s. (W., I, 164). 
June 18. Napoleon defeated at Waterloo [S. Belgium]. 
September 26. The Holy Alliance is formed between the 

sovereigns of Austria, Russia, and Prussia. 
November 20. Second Peace of Paris. 

18 1 6, May 2. The Princess Charlotte is married to Leopold of 

Saxe-Coburg. 
June 10. Canning becomes President of the Board of 

Control {Mar., I, 23). 
August. Humiliation of the Dey of Algiers and release 

of Christian slaves. 
November 2. Cobbett's Weekly Political Register is 

reduced in price to 2d. ( W., I, 393). 
November 15. A meeting of unemployed workmen is 

held at Spa Fields called together by " Orator Hunt,'" 

Watson, and other Radicals. 
December 2. A second meeting is held and rioting results 

(^.,1,428). 
Chartists, Hampden Clubs, Spencean Philanthropists, etc., 

organized about this time. 

1817, January 28. Attack on the Prince Regent. 

March. Repression measures — Temporary Suspension 
of the Habeas Corpus to the close of the session of 
Parliament {W., I, 435 ; Mar., I, 145). 

March of the Blanketeers from Manchester — Sidmouth 
Circular to the Lords Lieutenant directing the appre- 
hension of persons accused of libel ( W., I, 458). 

June. Derbyshire [Central England] Insurrection. 
Habeas Corpus Act suspended (for the last time) until 
March, 18 18 {W., I, 444). 

November 6. Death of Princess Charlotte [born 1796]. 



36 

1817, December. Three libel trials of Hone who is acquitted 

(IV., I, 461). 
The first was before Abbott, the second and third were before Lord 
Chief Justice Ellenborough who resigns on account of their result. 

1818, Indemnity Act passed for those who had been engaged in 

arrests on suspicion or in the dispersal of meetings. 
Marriages of the Dukes of Cambridge, Clarence and 
Kent. 
Parliament votes ,£1,000,000 to build new churches. 
Queen Charlotte, Sir Samuel Romilly, Lord Ellenbor- 
ough and Warren Hastings died this year. 

18 19, May 24. Victoria born. 

Peel's Act for the resumption of specie payments passed 
(W., I, 490; Mar., I, 270). 

July 12. Wolselcy elected (Mar., I, 292) Legislatorial Attor- 
ney for Birmingham [N. W. Warwick]. 

August 16. Manchester [S. Lancashire] Meeting and 
Peterloo Massacre ( W., I, 506; Mar., I, 296). 

November-December. The " Six Acts " passed after much 
opposition (IV., I, 516; Mar., I, 313 ; M., ch. 10). 

1. An Act to prevent delay in the administration of justice. 

2. An Act to prevent the training of persons with arms and in mili- 

tary evolutions. 

3. An Act to prevent and punish libels. 

4. An Act authorizing justices of the peace in disturbed counties 

to seize and detain suspicious collections of arms. 

5. An Act to tax certain publications of a political nature. 

6. An Act to prevent seditious meetings and out-of-door assemblies. 

1820, January 29. George III dies. 

%* For the reign of George III see 

Required Reading. Bright, History of England, III, pp. 1035- 

1072, 1082-1094, 1103-1113, 1128-1149, 

1 1 54-1 1 66, 1 1 77-1 184, 1 1 99-1 2 1 9, 1228- 

1281, 1322-1363. 
Gardiner, Students' History of England, 

pp. 765-880. 
May, Constitutional History of England, 

chapters 1, 3, 4, 5, 6 (first half), 7, 8 

(first half), 9, 11, 12, 16, and 17. 
Ransome, Advanced History of England, 

pp. S04-919. 
Rosebery, Pitt, chapters 3, 4, 9, 10, 11, and 

*5- 



37 

Advised References. Massey, History of England. 

Lecky, History of England in the 
Eighteenth Century, Vols. Ill to 
VIII. 
Stanhope, Life of Pitt. 
Russell, Life and Times of Charles 

James Fox. 
Walpole, History of England, Vol. I. 

1820-1830. George IV (son of George III). 

Born 1762; married, 1795, t0 Caroline of Brunswick; died 1830. His 
dissipations and alliance with the Whigs in his youth ; his treat- 
ment of the Princess Charlotte and his wife. 

1820, February. The queen's name is omitted from the liturgy. 
The Cato Street Conspiracy to assassinate the ministers is 

discovered, the informers being Edwards and Hidon 

(Mar., 1,315)- 
May 1 . Thistlewood, the principal conspirator, is executed. 
June. Queen Caroline arrives in England from the con- 
tinent. 
July 5. Lord Liverpool brings in a Bill of Pains and 

Penalties against the queen ( IV., ch. 6 ; M., ch. 2). 
August. The queen's trial begins before the House of 

Lords. She is defended by Brougham, Denman, and 

Lushington. 
November. Proceedings against the queen abandoned. 
December. Canning resigns his office at the Board of 

Control. 

1821, May 30. Grampound [Cornwall] disfranchised and its 

seats given to the County of York (M, ch. 6). 
July 19. At the coronation of the king the queen is 

refused admission. 
August 7. Death of Queen Caroline (Mar., I, 345 ; W., 

I, 618). 

1822, January. The Grenville party support the ministry. 

Peel becomes Home Secretary, Lord Sidmouth resign- 
ing ( W., II, 41). 

March 27. Canning appointed Governor-General of India 
to succeed Lord Moira. 

Francis Rawdon, Earl of Moira, Marquis of Hastings (1754-1826), 
served in the American War, aqd in 1813 was made Governor- 



38 

General of India where he advocated the education of the natives 
and made British power paramount. 

1822, August 12. Suicide of Londonderry [formerly Castle- 

reagh]. 
September n. Canning becomes Foreign Secretary ( W., 
ch. 9 ; Mar., I, 394). 

George Canning (1770-1827) was educated at Oxford. In early life 
he was a Whig. In 1794 he entered Parliament and supported 
Pitt, retired from office with him and opposed Addington. In 
1806, Treasurer of the Navy; in 1807, Foreign Secretary. In his 
foreign policy he opposed the Holy Alliance and the interference 
of France in Spain, favored recognition of the South American 
republics and constitutional government in Portugal and Brazil, 
also the freedom of Greece. He favored freer trade and Roman 
Catholic Relief. 

The Navigation Acts are first modified this year. A Corn 
Law is passed admitting foreign wheat at a duty of 12s. 
when the price at home reaches "jos. a quarter. 

1823, January. Huskisson becomes President of the Board of 

Trade and Robinson succeeds Vansittart as Chancellor 
of the Exchequer {Mar., I, 430). He later modifies 
the Sinking Fund ( W., II, 82). 

May. Canning's Circular directing better treatment of 
the slaves in the West Indies. 

June 6. Reciprocity of Duties Bill introduced, its passage 
put British and foreign ships on equal footing. 

Mackintosh and Peel succeed in having passed bills abol- 
ishing capital punishment for a number of felonies ( W., 
II, 74) and the Marriage Law is reformed (W., II, 78). 

The Catholic Association is formed in Ireland under the 
leadership of O'Connell and collects the " Catholic 
Rent"(W., II, 238). 

Daniel O'Connell (1775-1847) was opposed to the Union and from 
1829-1847 was a member of Parliament, at which time his fol- 
lowers were known as O'Connell's "tail." See also the years 1828 
and 1843. 

1824, Reduction of the duties on silk and wool. Abolition of 

bounties ( W., II, 96; Mar., I, 475; Mcculloch's Com- 
mercial Dictionary). — A Commission is appointed to 
inquire into the administration of the Court of Chancery. 



39 

1825, March. The Catholic Association is suppressed for three 

years (M., ch. 10). 
Burdett's Bill for the Relief of Catholics is introduced, it 

is later lost in the House of Lords, having passed the 

Commons (Afar., II, 60). 
Stock-jobbing, Speculation, and [December] Panic. 

1827, February 17. Lord Liverpool seized with apoplexy. 
April 12. The Corn Bill passes the Commons, it is later 

[June] lost in the House of Lords through an amend- 
ment by Wellington (IV., II, 455). 

Duty 20s. when the price of wheat is 60s. a quarter, decreasing to 
is. at jos. price and increasing 2s. for every is. decrease in price. 

April. Canning [Tory] Ministry formed, the High 
Tories, as Wellington, Eldon, Melville, Bathurst, West- 
moreland, and Peel, resign (IV., II, 445 ; Mar., II, 134). 

Canning, First Lord of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Ex- 
chequer; Lord Lyndhurst [Copley], Lord Chancellor; Lord 
Goderich [Robinson], Colonial Secretary; Palmerston, War Sec- 
retary; Huskisson, Board of Trade; Sturges-Bourne, Home 
Secretary; Lords Dudley, Harrowby, and Anglesey. 

Treaty of London between England, France, and Russia 

for the pacification of Greece. 
August 8. Death of Canning. Goderich [Tory] Ministry 

(Jftr.,11, 143; ^.,11,458). 
Goderich, First Lord of the Treasury; Hemes, Chancellor of the 

Exchequer; Lansdowne, Home Secretary; Huskisson, Colonies; 

Grant, Board of Trade; Lyndhurst, Palmerston, Stanley. 

October 20. The Turco-Egyptian fleet destroyed at 
Navarino (W., II, 430; Mar., II, 155) by Codrington. 

1828, January 8. Goderich resigns. Wellington [Tory] Min- 

istry. 
Wellington, First Lord of the Treasury; Goulburn, Chancellor of 
the Exchequer; Peel, Home Secretary; Dudley, Foreign Sec- 
retary; Huskisson, Palmerston, Grant, Lyndhurst. 

May 2. Repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts ( W., 
II, 472 ; M., ch. 13), a declaration henceforth to be 
made " on the true faith of a Christian." 

May. Huskisson "resigns" (IV., II, 482) because of a 
dispute in regard to the disposition of the franchise of 
East Retford, a rotten borough, and is followed by the 



4 o 

"Canningites" [Palmerston, Grant, Dudley, Lamb, and 
Lord George Bentinck]. 
Hardinge is made Secretary of War; Murray, Colonial Secretary; 
Vesey Fitzgerald, President of the Board of Trade; Aberdeen, 
Foreign Secretary. 

1828, June. The Corn Act with Wellington's sliding scale is 

passed. 
June-July. The Clare [W. Ireland] election results in 
the choice, through the efforts of the Catholic Associa- 
tion and the priests, of O'Connell, a Roman Catholic 
(A/., ch. 13 ; Ann. Reg., 1828, 120 ; W., II, 488). 

1829, February. The Act suppressing the Catholic Association 

is passed. Peel resigns his seat for Oxford, is defeated 
for re-election, and is returned for Westbury. 

Sir Robert Peel (1788-18 50) was educated at Harrow and Oxford 
and in 1809 entered Parliament. He was in the Perceval and 
Liverpool ministries and was then opposed to Catholic Relief 
[hence his nickname, Orange Peel]. In 1830 he became a baronet ; 
he opposed reform of the representation. See 1839, 1841-46. 

March 3. The king refuses his consent to the proposed 
Catholic Relief Bill, but Wellington, Peel and Lyndhurst 
threatening to resign, he gives his consent and the bill 
is brought in. 

March 5. The Catholic Relief Bill passes the Commons. 

March 21. Duel between Wellington and Lord Winchil- 
sea. 

April 10. The Relief Bill passes the Lords ( W., II, 500- 
518 ; Mas., II, 219). 

By this Act the Roman Catholics were admitted by a new oath to 
Parliament and all civil and political offices except those of Regent, 
Lord Chancellor, and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. They cannot 
hold office in the Established Church. 

Act passed raising the franchise in Ireland from 40^. to 

£10. 
May 15. O'Connell presents himself for admission to 

Parliament and, refusing to take the old oath, is excluded 

(Mas., II, 228). 
July 30. O'Connell is re-elected for Clare. 

1830, Metropolitan Police Act (W., II, 616). 
June 26. Death of George IV. 



4i 

* m * For the reign of George I V see 

Required Reading. Bright, History of England, III, pp. 1365- 
1417. 
Gardiner, Students' History of England, 

pp. 880-898. 
May, Constitutional History of England, 

ch. 13. 
Ransome, Advanced History of England, 
pp. 920-935. 
Advised References. Walpole, History of England, Vols. I, II. 
Martineau, History of the Peace, Vols. I, 

II. 
Stapleton, Canning. 



WHY THE MINISTRIES CAME TO AN END. 

1742. Walpole, defeated on Chippenham election question, re- 

signs, he having lost control of the House of Commons. 

1743. Wilmington died. 

1754. Pelham, the Prime Minister, died. 

1757. Newcastle resigned because he was unable to obtain sup- 
port in the House of Commons. 

1757. Pitt was dismissed by George II and then Devonshire re- 
signed. 

1761. New castle- Pitt Ministry — Pitt resigned because the rest of 
the ministry refused to make war with Spain, later New- 
castle resigned because the Prussian subsidies were 
stopped. 

1763. Bute resigned because of the popular feeling against the 
Peace of Paris and his consequent unpopularity. 

1765. Grenville Ministry lost office on account of their action on 

the Regency Question. 

1766. Rockingham resigned, the ministry being weak on account 

of the action of the King's Friends and because of a 
disagreement in the Cabinet in regard to the civil gov- 
ernment of Quebec. 
1770. Grafton Ministry resigned, being weakened by the Wilkes 
disturbances and the attacks of Junius and Lord Chat- 
ham. 



42 



1782. 
1782. 

1783- 



1783- 



1804. 

i8o6. 
1807. 

1809. 



1812. 

1827. 
1827. 
1828. 



North resigned because of the weakness of the ministry 
from reverses in America. 

Rockingham, the Prime Minister, died. 

Shelburne was attacked in regard to the terms of Ameri- 
can peace by Fox and North and left office. His min- 
istry had been weakened by resignations. 

The Coalition was dismissed by George III, the defeat of 
Fox's India Bill giving him a pretext. 

Pitt resigned on account of the king's opposition to Roman 
Catholic Relief to which he (Pitt) was committed. 

Addington resigned on account of decreased majorities and 
the war difficulties. 

Pitt, the Prime Minister, died. 

Grenville Ministry refused to pledge themselves not to 
revive the Catholic question and resigned. 

Portland, being in bad health, resigned, there being quar- 
rels in the ministry (as between Canning and Castle- 
re agh). 

Perceval, the Prime Minister, was assassinated. 

Liverpool resigned on account of illness. 

Canning, the Prime Minister, died. 

Goderich resigned because he was unable to arrange 
quarrels in his Cabinet. 



TABLE SHOWING CHANGES OF NAME. 



Addington — Viscount Sidmouth. 
Althorp — Earl Spencer. 
Baring — Lord Ashburton. 
Carmarthen — Duke of Leeds. 
Carr — Viscount Beresford. 
Carteret — Earl Granville. 
Compton — Lord Wilmington. 
Copley — Lord Lyndhurst. 
Dash wood — Baron le Despencer. 
Dundas (Henry) — Viscount Melville. 
Dunning — Lord Ashburton. 
Fox (Henry) — Lord Holland. 
Fox Maule — Lord Panmure. 



Grant (Charles) — Lord Glenelg. 
Harley — Earl of Oxford. 
Hartington — Duke of Devonshire. 
Henley — Earl of Northington. 
Lamb — Lord Melbourne. 
Lampton — Earl of Durham. 
Morpeth — Earl of Carlisle. 
Mulgrave — Marquis of Normanby. 
Murray — Earl Mansfield. 
North — Earl of Guilford. 
Parmer — Lord Selborne. 
Pitt (the elder) — Earl Chatham. 
Pratt — Earl Camden. 



43 

Pulteney — Earl of Bath. Townshend (Thos.) — Lord Sydney. 

Sackville — Lord Germaine. Vansittart — Lord Bexley. 

St. John — Viscount Bolingbroke. Walpole — Earl of Orford. 

Scott — Earl Eldon. Wellesley — Duke of Wellington. 

Sugden — Lord St. Leonards. Wyndham — Lord Grenville. 

Grey — Lord Howick — Earl Grey. 

Jenkinson — Lord Hawkesbury — Lord Liverpool. 

Petty — Lord Shelburne — Marquis of Lansdowne. 

Robinson — Lord Goderich — Earl of Ripon. 

Stewart — Castlereagh — Lord Londonderry. 

Wedderburn — Lord Loughborough — Earl of Rosslyn. 



HOUSE OF HANOVER. 

Sophia, Electress of Hanover, ti7i4- 
George I m. Sophia Dorothea. 



George II m. Caroline. Sophia Dorothea. 



I I I I I 

Frederick m. Augusta. Anne. William, Mary. Louisa. 

Pr. of Wales, I Duke of Cumberland. 



t«7Si. 



I I 

George III m. Charlotte.* Five other children. 



George IV m. Caroline. Frederick, William IV, Edward m. Victoria, Ernest, 

Duke of York, T1837. Duke of I T1861. K'g of Hanover, 

ti827. Kent, T1851. 

Charlotte, f82o. 

T1817. 

Albert m. Victoria, 
ti86i. Queen of England. 

* George III had numerous other children besides those mentioned in the table. 



* JI *The following books are very useful for students of the 
period the history of which is summarized in this 
outline : 

Ashton, John, The Dawn of the Nineteenth Century 

in England. 
Bagehot, Biographical Studies. 
Donne, Correspondence of George III with Lord 

North. 
Escott, England. 

Ewald, A. C, Sir Robert Walpole. 
Fergusson, Alexander, Henry Erskine. 
Fitzgerald, Percy, Life of George IV. 
Gibson, Edward, Pitt, some Chapters of his Life and 

Times. 
Greville, Charles C. F., Journal of the Reigns of King 

George IV and King William IV. 
Innes, Arthur D., Britain and her Rivals. 
Merewether and Stephens, History of Boroughs. 
Oldfield, Representative History of Great Britain. 
Rae, W. F., Wilkes, Sheridan, and Fox. 
Yonge, Charles Duke, Life and Administration of Lord 

Liverpool. 

LofC. 



a? 1901 



i 



Miiiii Uh CONGRESS 



% A 020 702 177 5 



